Japan Times
Date: Jan 18, 2016

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday congratulated independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen for her election as president of Taiwan.

“I would like to express congratulations from the bottom of my heart. I’m hoping that the cooperative relationship between Japan and Taiwan will advance further,” Abe told a session of the Upper House Budget Committee.

“Taiwan is an old friend of Japan’s,” Abe said. “Deciding on a leader through an election based on freedom of speech, the presidential election is a testimony to freedom and democracy in Taiwan.”

Tsai, leader of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, won Saturday’s election with 56 percent of the vote against 31 percent for Eric Chu of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, which has held the presidency for the last eight years.     [FULL  STORY]